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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23876317">I may not see but I didn’t look away.</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/youngjusticewriter/pseuds/youngjusticewriter'>youngjusticewriter</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Agni Kai (Avatar), Blind Character, Child Abuse, Gen, I’m admittedly am stress writing, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Ozai you have done played yourself and have caused your own downfall, POV Toph Beifong, Platonic Soulmates, the whole gaang are soulmates but this centers around Toph and Zuko, this prologue is crap</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-03 01:14:20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>331</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23876317</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/youngjusticewriter/pseuds/youngjusticewriter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Something soft fell to the floor. It was followed by a sharp intake of breath. Her soulmate’s heart bear became as fast as a looped eared rabbit’s heart would be when the animal was trapped; unlike the rabbit, Zuko didn’t dart away from danger.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Toph Beifong &amp; Zuko</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>303</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>I may not see but I didn’t look away.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Something soft fell to the floor. It was followed by a sharp intake of breath. Her soulmate’s heart bear became as fast as a looped eared rabbit’s heart would be when the animal was trapped; unlike the rabbit, Zuko didn’t dart away from danger. No, his knees fell to the ground as he babbled out apologies and begged for forgiveness from his own father. (If she had learnt one of her soulmate’s father was the Fire Lord in different circumstances then Toph would have- </p><p>...her reaction would have been different. But this nightmare was Toph learnt who one of her soulmates were and now Toph had a personal reason to hate the Fire Lord. Toph was blind and so her parents thought her something fragile despite her albility to earthbend; unless she was going out with one of her parents Toph was stuck either inside or circling about the gardens because her family were merchants. They were rich and so none of her family, Toph included, had seen the effects the war was causing to their countryman.) </p><p>Her fingers curled, her nails digging into callused palms. There was no pain to ground Toph though. It was only a nightmare after all. (It was only a memory of the past and that didn’t make it better.) </p><p>“You will learn respect,” the Fire Lord said hissed as though he was more serpant than man. (He’s just a man. He would  bleed and burn just as you did- you could fight him instead of begging for something he would never grant.) “Suffering will be your teacher.” </p><p>The sound of fire filled Toph’s ears. Her soulmates screamed, “No!” His voice, Toph had noticed long ago, sounded young. </p><p>She didn’t know if she was facing the right way and maybe she wasn’t. The thing was Toph kept her face in the direction where the sound came from and she didn’t move her head. </p><p>It was the least she could do until she came across her soulmate.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Okay, so with my characterization of Toph. Yes, Toph can be demanding of others (she was like that in teaching Aang), she can be stubborn, brutally honest, and confrontational but if anyone in gaang would understand how complicated it is to untangle yourself from an abuser it would Toph. (While Toph’s parents may not be abusive from what I remember of them - I’m on season one so far and until last week I haven’t watched the show in years - they were not good for her.) You can be a smart person and still be abused. You can be smart and have it take a long time - sometimes even years - to realize that the person who is hurting you doesn’t deserve your loyalty and defense of them. This also isn’t the first time Toph has witnessed this nightmare and she has to way to communicate with Zuko during the dream.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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